In The Art of Touch: Prose and Poetry from the Pandemic and Beyond, the unique voices of thirty-nine of some of the most creative thinkers of our times have been brought together to consider the profound impact of one of our five main senses: touch.

Psychologists, healers, massage therapists, academics, creative writers, and others reflect on or tell personal stories about what it means to be able to touch or experience touch, or to have to go without it—as so many did and still do because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They explore how transmissions such as texting may impede opportunities for touch, while those like Zoom may make it possible for people who otherwise might be left behind to stay “in touch.” From the experience of touching beloved animals to the life-changing ways in which books and performances can touch us, virtually all aspects of touch are acknowledged in these pages.

Contributions by: Magdalena Ball, Bonnie Boucher, Anne Casey, Joy Castro, Quintin Collins, Paula Coomer, Laura Crucianelli, María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado, Linda DeFruscio-Robinson, Faye Rapoport DesPres, Erika Dreifus, Raphael Frumkin, Nicole Hardy, Will Jennings, Meg Kearney, Becky Kennedy, Sarah Kotchian, Rocco Lo Bosco, Sarah McElwain, Damian McNicholl, Lynda Miller, Lynn C. Miller, Sarah Moon, Kate Niles, Anne-Marie Oomen, Alicia Ostriker, Christine Page, Judith Simon Prager, Robert Root, Paul Singer, Phyllis M Skoy, Donna Baier Stein, Grace Anne Stevens, Alison Stone, Daniel B. Summerhill, Deborah Swift, Beatriz Terrazas, Meg Tuite, Susan J. Tweit